A cluster of six comics made by, intriguingly eight groups. Don't ask. Actually do, or I won't have any details to bore you with in this blog.
Before we even get to the comics made by an unusually large number of kids, I should mention the Comic Art Masterclasses I did the previous week, in Hull, where the kids didn't even get to make a comic at all. I was part of the Big Malarkey Festival in Hull where, over two days, I worked with four groups per day, each getting just a 45 minute session with me. So there was no chance of producing anything worth looking at, but I did manage to get all their faces drawn, which gave them something to take away.
Following that, the above comics were done at Whitchurch Primary in Harrow, where they also wanted four groups in a day to work with me, each getting a one hour session. Because all four groups had already seen the "how to draw a character" opening section of my class, in a Zoom demonstration I did the previous week (to about 800 kids in about 25 schools at once), I opted to try and produce comics with these groups. So the first group got to make up the comic title, then the second group got their faces drawn, and all four groups got a printed comic to take away, containing only their groups' strips. The downside of this, which I hadn't taken into consideration, was that this meant I spent twice as long on the photocopier producing 4 lots of 30 comics (instead of the usual 2 lots), eating up all of my lunchtime, and extra time after school. That's interesting Kev, tell us more about your production methods.
With Arden Academy in Solihull we were back to business as usual, working with two groups, all of whom got a caricature and a comic to take away. Plus they bought 13 books, which is great.
Frome Festival's classes count as the hottest of the year so far. The heatwave has been going on, on and off, for a couple of weeks, and this was in one of those rooms that really feels it. Ironically, as I was packing up, I discovered the button that turned the air conditioning on. A little too late.
The celebrities these eight, yes eight, groups chose to appear in my demonstration strip were Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Cristiano Ronaldo, Elon Musk, Deigo Jota (recently deceased Liverpool footballer), The Queen, Adam Sandler, King Charles, and Freddie Mercury.
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Richard The Third (Colour) | Doctors Who? Colouring | Socks Do Shakespeare | Kids Comics Annual 2026 |
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Richard The Third (bw) | Findlay Macbeth | Prince of Denmark Street | Midsummer Night's Dream Team |
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Shakespeare Omnibus | Comic Tales From The Bible | Joseph, Ruth & Other Stories | Space Elain |
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